At Notre Dame, Te'o thrived by reading offenses. He's not especially fast, but played fast. On Tuesday, he completed his 11th practice with the veterans and then snapped his fingers while making the point that the mental tasks are starting to click for him. "It's definitely a great transition," he said.

Among those who've encouraged him are former NFL players Ray Lewis, Troy Polamalu and Steve Young. It's still sinking in that he, Te'o, is an NFL player. "To know that hey, these guys are just like me, is actually cool," he said. "It’s kind of surreal.”